Thursday, September 20, 2012

Kimber in Spain

Kimber came to visit me on the last week of June before she spent six weeks studying abroad in Paris (I know, I'm jealous, too), and what a lovely time we had. That first day, we went shopping for some stuff she needed, and then came home to watch Amélie--she was going to Paris, after all--though Kimber's jet lag made her miss the latter part of the film (boo). The next day, we took the metro to the city and began our adventures.

We had intended to visit both the Museo del Prado and the Church of St. Jerome, seeing as they're right next to each other, but the church had weddings taking place the whole time we were there. So, we just spent most of the day in the museum.

It is a darn shame that the Prado doesn't allow photography, because it's such a lovely building.

The Annunciation by Fra Angelico, Adam & Eve by Albrecht Dürer, Saturn Devouring his Son by Goya, The Three Graces by Peter Paul Rubens, Las Meninas by Velázquez, The Nobleman with his Hand on his Chest by El Greco, and Danaë by Titian

And this piece of gorgeosity and yumyumyum:

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch

Afterwards, we visited the Museo Nacional de Antropologia. I'm not sure many people know about it, even though it's a large building, as it was mostly empty.

This is the skeleton of Agustín Luengo Capilla, also known as the Gigante Extremeño (the Giant from Extremadura, an autonomous community in western Spain), a man who reached a height of over 7'7". He lived at around the same time the Anthropology Museum was being built, and its then director, Pedro González Velasco, offered him 2,50 pesetas every day for the rest of his life in exchange for his body once he died. Agustín accepted, and so lived in relative comfort until he died of tuberculosis at 28 years old.